2012-Labor of Love Dallas, TX @Restoring Love

During the hot Texas summer of 2012, Labor of Love volunteers joined with thousands of others in the Dallas Fort Worth area in a Day of Service, where groups small and large completed hundreds of projects in a single day. Our group, Red Bus A style, decided to do a little extra.

Ahead of the Day of Service, we hosted a dinner meet and greet for more than 100 people at what we fondly called The Big House, a vacation rent by owner where 40 of us stayed for the week. Many of those who attended hadn’t seen one another since Israel, and others who had met only through social media, finally put faces with names, and made new and lasting friendships.

When crowds checking in for the Day of Service overwhelmed staff at Cowboy Stadium, Red Bus A people took the initiative to not stand in line, but to volunteer on the spot for several hours, checking in hundreds of people and clearing lines that would have been hours long.

Our Day of Service group consisted of nearly 70 people, and we were assigned to clean and restore a city park in Grapevine, Texas. In 100 degree humid heat, we collected trash, moved pipes and tires out of the water onto a barge, and the children served the servants cool lemonade (and collected cash to donate to charity).

While attending an evening baseball game as families, we became aware of an unfinished painting and repair project in East Dallas, where despite a full day and evening of effort, a Baptist church with a funeral scheduled at 11am the next morning was in shambles. Social media posts put out the call, and by midnight, a group had volunteered and supplies were purchased for a 7am spontaneous service. We cleaned like madmen, vacuumed, moved equipment and construction supplies, and had everything set up prior to arrival of guests for the funeral, and ready for Sunday services the next day. And, just like in Joplin, people joined us that Saturday morning who we had never met – new friends and new partners in service.